Gaggia Brera – best value for your all-in-one espresso solution

So, you’ve started to like coffee – like really, really like coffee. But not just any old cup of Joe.

You like the specialty drinks, and now you find yourself making a Starbucks run two, maybe three, times a day.

It’s expensive, so you start looking into espresso makers. They’re expensive too! And so confusing… What’s the solution?

What we love about the Gaggia Brera:

• Superb Value for Money.
• Authentically Italian Made with Brand Recognition.
• Built-in Ceramic Burr Grinder with an 8.8-ounce Capacity.
• Removable Brew Unit for Easy Cleaning.
• Bypass Doser for Ground Specialty or Decaf Coffee.
• Fast Heat up (10-seconds or less).
• One-Touch Espresso and Coffee Buttons.
• Adjustable Coffee Length, Pre-Brewing Options, and Aroma Settings.
• Create Café-Quality Espresso, Ristretto, Lungo, Americano, Long Black, Latte, Cappuccino and More!

This beautiful model is our personal favorite design in their lineup.

The machine comes in an all-over stainless-steel casing or front stainless-steel with a black plastic body. Some of our favorite points of the design include:

• Its front access water tank for easy refill.
• Its removable brew group for ultra-easy maintenance, and
• The simple control center – with a respectable number of programmable features including intensity, coffee length, and a clock and timer.

Below the main control center there’s the steam wand or hot waterspout knob.

You can use the elegant looking Pannarello wand for either.

This unit is cleverly designed to accommodate cup heights from 3.1 to 4.5 inches tall.

How? Because the extraction spout is moveable to fit in with the various heights.

At the top of the machine, there’s an area for cups just in front of the air-tight ceramic grinder with 5 grind settings.

This is a good choice for beginners who don’t want to fuss too much with dialing in their shots, but still want to have some grind-sizes to try out.

Optiaroma with Pre-infusion for a Flavorful Cup

The Brera starts by grinding your fresh coffee beans. Then it utilizes pre-infusion and a couple second wait time before its pressurized extraction to create a wonderfully rich and nuanced beverage.

Up the intensity with the Gaggia line’s unique “optiaroma” function with three aroma settings that brew stronger to enhance the flavor of your cup.

Get tailor-made results by selecting the volume of coffee you want among three variants.

One of the most remarkable features of the machine is the sturdy and reliable 100% ceramic adjustable grinder. Grinders made entirely of ceramic extract the purest essence from your beans and guard against overheating or burning.

Ceramic grinders are also quiet compared to steel grinders, making for the best overall performance. The grinder has a respectable 5 grind options to take you to either a fine grind for robust flavor, a coarse grind for tea-like coffees, or something in between.

What’s more, the grinder integrates a “smart system” which will automatically adjust the speed and timing of the grind to best suit the roast of your beans.

While you can’t beat whole bean, the machine also offers bypass dosing feature.

If you have a specialty ground coffee you’d like to try out with this machine, you have the option to do so.

This machine really does it all!

Another special feature that we didn’t know we needed is the way it handles double shots.

The unit grinds twice for two full shots rather than simply pushing more water through a higher dose.

This way you can put two shot glasses side by side and make two even, better tasting beverages for you and a friend.

Smart Memo Function

With the Gaggia Brera’s “Smart Memo” function, it can memorize your customizations such as coffee length and strength.

Just press the smart memo button for a few seconds with your favorites selected, and voilà, it’s memorized!

Front Loading Water Reservoir and Dreg Box

We love the front-loading water reservoir and dreg box on this machine.

It’s always such a hassle to refill back loaded water reservoirs. It can be awkward to reach over the machine without bumping into the cabinets. And, similarly the dreg box being placed on the side or back would make it difficult to reach and potentially cause a mess of grinds as you try to get it out.

We applaud the Gaggia designers for this convenient choice!

Pannarello Wand with Rapid Steam

With the Brera’s rapid steam feature, it’s ready to start steaming in just 9 short seconds.

The Pannarello wand makes delicious quality micro-foam for lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos, or even some hot cocoa! The addition of a milk solution is what makes any super automatic great for lovers of specialty beverages.

Maintaining the Gaggia Brera is easy as pie with its removable brew unit, drip tray, and dreg box that can be rinsed off with warm water weekly.

Because you’re able to access the machine’s brew group, you can keep it clean and working efficiently for the best in-cup results every time.

The machine will need to be manually descaled every two to three months.

Depending on how much you use it, and that will be indicated by a descale light on the front of the machine. You’ll need to make sure you use Gaggia’s own descaling solution and follow the machine’s specific instructions.

Design Comparison

In the matter of aesthetics, we personally prefer the look of the Gaggia Brera.

It’s shorter and takes up less width than the Cadorna Milk, yet it’s only about 1 pound lighter. That speaks to the higher quantity of plastic materials used in the Cadorna Milk as compared to the Brera.

Despite its appearance being generally less pleasing to the eye, the Gaggia Cadorna Milk handles the interface with equal simplicity.

There are two design elements we prefer on the Cadorna Milk:

• The espresso dispenser can accommodate taller mugs than the Brera, and
• The Cadorna’s 50-ounce-capacity water tank allows for less frequent refills.

Both the Cadorna and the Brera can make the exact same lineup of drinks.

However, with the Gaggia Brera it’s up to you to know the general recipe of these drinks – how thick the foam should be, what ratio of espresso to milk, etc.

With the Gaggia Cadorna you have all your café favorites programmed in the machine.

Thanks to its completely automatic, hands-free milk solution:

• You simply select your drink, make any adjustments you want like light milk or a double shot,
• and the machine takes care of the rest.